Loving Piper, Losing Prue
by Regency
Summary: Cole realizes something he's always known. Cole/Piper, Cole/Prue, Piper/Leo. On Perm. Hiatus.
1. Loving Piper, Losing Prue

Author: Regency  
  
Title: Loving Piper, Losing Prue  
  
Category: Leo/Piper, Angst, Cole/Phoebe  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Spoilers/Season: Prue's already died and Phoebe and Cole aren't together anymore.   
  
Pairing: Look upward and onwards, who knows  
  
Summary: Cole realizes something that he's known all along. He loves Piper and he   
  
loved Prue.   
  
Author's Notes: I know this is strange, but hey wonder why people are rarely after Piper.   
  
He won't let them get her.  
  
Disclaimer: no one here is mine.  
  
I realized something recently. Well, not realized just now. I guess in a way I've   
  
always known this.  
  
I love Piper and I loved Prue more than anything in my past, present, or future.   
  
More than Phoebe, even. And I don't even like Paige.  
  
I don't know why I ended up with Phoebe. Wait. Yes, I do. It was because I never   
  
had a chance with Prue as her life revolved around her sisters and magic. Anyone she   
  
dated anything she did directly affected her sisters and by extension the power of three.   
  
And Piper has always loved Leo. I couldn't get in between that. I know they'd never let   
  
me.  
  
I never really understood what made me love them both. All I knew was whatever   
  
they had, Phoebe lacked in a big way. That doesn't mean I didn't love her, because I did,   
  
but I believe my love for her has always been in direct correlation to the fact that ending a   
  
relationship with her would take me out of Piper and Prue's life and I couldn't handle   
  
that, especially after Prue died. My desire to be near Piper was stronger than ever, and   
  
that's why I kept trying to win Phoebe back. It's callous, even inconsiderate of her   
  
feelings, but when it comes to Piper, all I think about is my need to be around her.  
  
My need to be around her rises from protectiveness. After losing Prue, a part of   
  
me, the real me, died. And after having watched Piper almost die so many times, it's   
  
gotten to me. Don't you ever notice how most demons leave Piper alone? It's because   
  
they know better. I made sure that the demon that killed Prue paid and anyone who hurts   
  
Piper will pay a higher price.  
  
There is something I do think about in terms of loving Piper and Prue. Piper. I   
  
think about how, beyond the obligatory worries, she's always pretty easily accepted me,   
  
even in the end. Prue was suspicious, but I always felt that she wished things had been   
  
different for her baby sister. I think she knew the real reason why I was with Phoebe and   
  
she thought she deserved better than being my door key and she was right. She wanted   
  
her little sister to have someone who came over and was so intent on seeing Phoebe that   
  
he practically ignores the other two. And, now I realize that's what I want for Phoebe too.   
  
Phoebe's a great girl, but that all I've ever associated her with. A girl. When we met, she   
  
was still pretty much a wild child. And really that's all well and good, but once you've   
  
lived a few hundred years, you want someone with the maturity and mind of your age   
  
range.   
  
That's what I found in Prue first and Piper second. What I saw in Prue's eyes,   
  
were the eyes of a twice-sinned angel, stuck on Earth again for her deeds, until her time   
  
came around again. And again it came. She saved Piper and to this day and I still don't   
  
know how I feel about that. It was either Prue or Piper. Prue chose herself. What I saw in   
  
Piper after that was a long lived advisor, who just needed a break. That's all she longed   
  
for…Was a break.  
  
Sometimes when I would spend the night there, back when I was still welcomed   
  
that is, I would see or hear her somewhere in the house, sobbing. Or shaking as reality   
  
would have it. That's crying without the aid of tears. And from my own personal   
  
experiences, I can say it's a painful and emotional action it hurt most that I couldn't make   
  
it go away for her. She wanted to stop being charmed, she wanted a true life, and she   
  
wanted to have babies whose biggest threat was birth defects. She wanted things that   
  
were never meant for her and she couldn't have them. So she cried. Even Leo didn't   
  
know. I think Prue knew though. But I think she cried too. I know she cried too.  
  
I watched them both cry all the time and they knew I was there, but they never   
  
said a word. They trusted me to keep their tears sacred. And even to this day, I have.  
  
I loved Piper, I lost Prue, and I married Phoebe. Though different, and though   
  
strange. In the end…I loved them all. Those sisters 3. I loved them all. Endlessly. 


	2. Loving The Child, Leaving The Woman p1

Author: Regency  
  
Title: Loving Melinda, Leaving Piper  
  
Category: Cole/Piper UST/Friendship. Don't worry, Piper is happy with Leo. Leo/Piper, Angst, Cole/Phoebe, kind of.   
  
Rating: PG-13, maybe higher  
  
Spoilers/Season: Prue's already died and Phoebe and Cole aren't together anymore.   
  
Pairing: Look upward and onwards, who knows  
  
Summary: Cole realizes something that he's known all along. He loves Piper and he loved Prue. But now, someone even higher than the Elders has a mission for him. He has to leave Piper for the daughter she may never get the chance to love for herself.  
  
Author's Notes: This is the 2nd chapter of "Loving Piper, Losing Prue."  
  
I was never meant for this. No, never me. Leo, definitely. Me not in a million friggin' years. I was never meant to hold Charm…huh, what a beautiful name. I know what her name was going to be though, until the Elders intervened. It was going to be Melinda. Melinda Halliwell-Wyatt. Her name literally speaks her heritage. She's tiny, but not an infant, aged to maybe three or four, which is telling of the Elders intervention. Had things been the way they would've she'd be just like this down there, with here momma and daddy. But she's here with me. Why you ask, of course. Well, the ever-cryptic Elders claim it to be her current destiny.  
  
One Elder, Prudence Charlotte Warren, an ascendant of the Halliwell's (Melinda Warren's daughter, older sister to a Piper Eve and Phoebe Anya) took me aside an told me in the strictest of confidence, that one of Charm's oldest and most cherished memories was being made right now as I held her in my arms. She'd remember waking up and feeling safe and warm, and that this particular memory would follow her through her life and would gently guide her into her powers. So whether I kept her or not, I'd already affected her.  
  
I'm holding the daughter of the love of my lifetime (this one anyway) and it feels so right when it can't possibly be.  
  
Yet, I've had two Prues confirm it. Charm belongs with me. My Prue came by on her way to see her charge. Prue passed whitelighter training school. I didn't even know they had that. She warned me firmly to watch over her niece and to at least try to love her.   
  
She also kissed me. It was nothing big, I assure you. But it felt amazing. She floated up… Yes, she actually floated up to me… and pressed her lips chastely to the corner of my mouth. She said I was right all along about her reaction to us going out together. She also made it very clear to whatever still existed of Belthazor, that this little pixie-Piper mini was off-limits. She was trusting her little niece to my care and somehow that made it feel more important that all the Elders had told me.   
  
After that I was orbed, yes orbed, back to Earth, but instead of ending up at the penthouse, I found us outside a house sporting a for sale sign. I think the elders are trying to tell me something. I feel a heavy gust of wind push me towards the front walkway. Yep, they're definitely trying to tell me something.  
  
I know I've seen this place before. Is this déjà vu or what?  
  
Moving to 1321 Prescott Street  
  
*The Manor is 1329 Prescott St.*  
  
Well, I did it. Whatever it is, anyway. I bought the manor at 1321 Prescott St. Would you believe they orbed me to the house down the street from Phoebe's? They can be real a real funny bunch when they deem it fit.  
  
It's a nice house. It's not too drab, but flashy enough that Charm would know or recognize it when she saw it. It's a two-story with a deep-wraparound porch that reaches from the front yard, to the side, to the backyard. There's a fairly-sized front and backyard, which as soon as Charm woke from her nap, she loved. Talk about perfect names. She 'Charmed' the pants off the real estate agent. I think he cut the price a bit just for her.  
  
She really loved her room or the room she designated as her own as soon as we reached the upstairs. It's not the biggest, but somehow, I know it's just right for her.  
  
Speaking of her more thoroughly…She is her mother's child. From her accent she speaks with to the scar on her eyebrow. Not to mention that smile. You know the one where her two top canine teeth sit just over her bottom lip and make her look like she's up to something.  
  
Well, we're moving in as soon as possible, as in tomorrow. Most of my things from the penthouse just 'suddenly' appeared in the house, exactly where I would have put them. So, the Elders are good for something. Not much, but something.  
  
5:30 AM, 1321 Prescott St.  
  
The Turner Manor  
  
I stick my head out the door and peek to the left and to the right. It's still pretty dark outside. It's so early, in fact, that the dawn dares not show its face for fear of its life.  
  
In my sweats and t-shirt, I creep, yes creep out onto the porch and down the sturdy front steps to the stone pathway where our paper is sitting. I just touch it with the edge of my fingers when I feel more than hear a tell-tale click' and feel a fireball start to gather in the palm of my hand. I turn; ready to defend myself like never before, only to find myself with a face full of water.  
  
It was the sprinkler system. I knew there was something the realtor forgot to mention. But I guess that's what happens when they find themselves 'charmed'. They simply forget.  
  
A tiny giggle from the direction of the front door takes my little bit of introspection outward.  
  
Standing there in her little Garfield pajamas is a giggling Charmaine Prudence Halliwell-Wyatt-Turner. And breathe. Damn, that's a long name.  
  
Grinning evilly (in a good way, I promise), I charge up the front steps towards her. She squeals and takes off into the house and out of sight pretty quickly. I, taking much care to shut the front door, noisily follow after Charm as she makes her way through the house.  
  
I chase her through the house and out the back door into our yard. I get out just in time to catch her silhouette slip behind a tree, and hear a tiny, muffled giggle as she looks on.  
  
"Now" I mutter as I say wander closer to the tree Charm is hiding behind. "Where could she be? Oh, where, oh where, did little Charm go? Oh, where, oh where, could she be? Could she be…behind the tree!" In a sneaky move I bolt behind the tree, and barely miss catching the back of her pajamas before she's off again.  
  
As I ready to give chase, I'm stopped in my tracks by Piper standing there, a few (back)yards away staring me straight in the eyes. Instinctively, I drop down to a crouch and chase Charm, who'd stopped to see what I was doing, back into the house.  
  
After I make sure she's tucked securely under her favorite Garfield throw, I find myself pacing near madly in the downstairs *parlor in front of the bay window. My thoughts rush by at twice light speed  
  
She saw me. She looked dead at me. She knows I'm here now. And I suspect it won't be long before she figures out where I am and comes in hands a blazin' with her two very un-merry sisters at her side.  
  
I am in so much trouble. *Knock, knock, knock, slam* So much trouble.  
  
Author: Regency  
  
Title: Introducing…Charmaine Halliwell-Wyatt-Turner…Or Not  
  
Season/Spoilers: "Death Takes a Halliwell" and just general knowledge of the show, its characters and their relationships.  
  
Pairing(s): Leo/ Piper…Cole/Piper?  
  
Archived: Anywhere is okay.  
  
Summary: Introducing…The child they should have had.  
  
**********************************************  
  
*Knock, knock, knock, slam.* There they go again. If I am who they know I am, how stupid would I have to be to open the door for them to come in? A lot stupider than I am. And that's for damn sure.  
  
*Orby sound, twinkly, swirly lights.* Damn, gotta get orb protection.  
  
I turn around very slowly, as I value my life. I stop to face my ex-wife(Phoebe), the love of my life(Piper), and the source of my strife(Paige). And they're all in their PJs. Ooh Piper in a tank top. How could I have missed that the first time around.  
  
"Hello, Piper…Phoebe…Pain."  
  
"Paige!" Like there's really a difference.  
  
"Whatever."   
  
"That's enough already!" Piper. Always the mother.  
  
"Cole, what are you doing here? I thought we had an agreement. You leave me alone and we'll stop trying to vanquish you." Hey, I tried telling the Elders that, but they were insistent. They even used thunderbolts to make their case. Talk about good character witnesses. They really say it all.  
  
"It's not that simple. There are mitigating circumstances- -" Paige cuts in.  
  
"What mitigating circumstances, like you're obsessed with my sister? Well, newsflash, bucko she doesn't want you anymore. And it's really about time you got it through your demonic peabrain." Would it really bother Piper if I kilt this one? I mean, there's got to be another Halliwell sister out there somewhere.  
  
"Paige, I can speak for myself." Phoebe steps forward a bit and looks me in the eye. "But she is right, Cole. It's over between us. There's no way I can forgive what you did enough to let you back into my life that way. So you should just give up." Um, okay. If I cared that would shatter me. But I don't so…  
  
"If you say so, Phoebe." Someone is very hung up on themselves. Can anyone say Mizz Phoebe?  
  
"I'm serious, Cole. There's no chance."  
  
"Yeah, I figured that, since you know…you're standing in my living room at 6:00 in the morning! If anyone were to see this scene, they'd assume it was you who didn't get the message, Pheebs. I'm no longer hung up on you. I live here. You live down the street. My dog hasn't crapped on your lawn and yours hasn't crapped on mine."  
  
Piper looks confused. "We don't have a dog." I sneer at Paige.  
  
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." I receive a sneer in return I turn back to Piper. "Anyway, there's absolutely no reason for us to speak or even acknowledge each other's existence. There's a full…What? Three houses between us. Seeing each other isn't a must."  
  
"Why are you here, Cole?" None of her business.  
  
By now we're drawn half across the room like two armies deciding when to go to war. Or when to start back where we stopped.  
  
"Again, I live here. What are you doing in my house?"  
  
"When Piper saw you we thought you had something planned and we wanted to know what it was."  
  
"Well, ladies and gentleman, you are sadly mistaken. I was just chasing a pixie through my backyard."  
  
"Pixies. He gets Pixies? We never get Pixies and we're the good guys."  
  
"Pixies prefer demons, thank you."  
  
"Shut up, dragon-dung."  
  
"Bite me, bile for brains." Piper's had enough.  
  
"You two had both better shut up, right now or I'll turn you into each other!"  
  
That's slightly disconcerting. I'm gonna just sit here and stare at Piper in that nice little tank there. She notices my staring and throws up that eyebrow I love so much on Charm. She looks down at her chest looking for that imaginary stain she thinks my eyes are drawn to.  
  
"What? Is there somethin' on my shirt. What?" I shake myself back to the moment.  
  
"No, I was just looking. Nothing's there." And there's that damn eyebrow.  
  
"You were just looking?" I don't like this question. Or that look on her face. It's a bit too predatory for my liking  
  
"Uh, yeah. Just looking. It's a nice view from here, that's all." It's time to get good with my maker, 'cuz I'm gonna die. Piper looks dead surprised, but it's the noise behind me that's making me nervous.  
  
A word of warning: Never turn your back on your ex-wife and most hated ex-sister-in-law when you're hitting on their other sister. Especially not when this sister's the one you wanted all along. Or when they're witches.  
  
Have I mentioned that I hate the Elders in the last five minutes. Well, now I have. I'm gonna die. I can feel her winding up…uh oh…here it comes…and nothing. Nothing. I crack an eye open to see Piper facing the wide doorway towards the staircase. I stand and peek over her shoulder to see what made her stop. I see.  
  
It's Charm. She's just standing there. Just standing there with her beautiful eyes turned toward us in a slightly angry, slightly terrified way. Prue (one of them) told me that in her short life, Charm has had little family and what she has she protects like nothing else.  
  
Standing there in her Garfield pajamas, she asks, "Why you pointing that at my daddy, Piper?" Piper looks at her still outstretched hand and suddenly can't seem to justify what she had almost done. She looks to the other two. "What were you gonna do, Phoebe, Paige? Were you gonna hurt my daddy too?" They look at each other, then to the floor, shame written all over their admittedly beautiful faces. "Why were you gonna hurt him? He isn't doing stuff to you." Her expression gives away her anger. "I think it's time for you to go home." She turns her gaze to the door and wiggles her nose, jerks her fingers and narrows her eyes. The deadbolt comes undone, the knob turns jerkily, and the door flies open. With a sweeping motion of her arms they were gathered up in a hefty wind and out the door they go. With the same motions the door closes. "Bye, bye, Miss American Pies."  
  
"You are one scary little miss, Charm." She grins and bounds over to my side. Oh, did I mention that the Charmed One's daughter or sons, as the case may be, will be at least three times more powerful than their mothers. I believe fate has spoken. Correction: shouted.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Okay, I ruined it, sorry. It was so good, by itself, but...Love me for my faults and my achievments. 


End file.
